Engraved Gem with a portrait of Demosthenes inset into a gold ring, 25-1 B.C. Creator: Unknown.

Engraved Gem with a portrait of Demosthenes inset into a gold ring, 25-1 B.C. Creator: Unknown.

3-037-102 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Engraved Gem with a portrait of Demosthenes inset into a gold ring, 25-1 B.C. Additional Info: A portrait of the Greek orator Demosthenes decorates the carved gem of this large gold ring. Demosthenes, the most famous of Athenian orators, was known for speaking out against the growing power of the kingdom of Macedonia. When Athens fell to the Macedonians in 323 B.C., he fled and committed suicide rather than face execution. Depictions of orators on Roman gems are quite rare, but in the early Roman Empire portraits of Demosthenes in all media became popular. The intaglio portrait on this ring shows the orator as an older, bearded man with a high furrowed forehead and a receding chin. This portrait, as with the other Roman examples, appears to derive from a famous bronze statue of Demothenes by the sculptor Polyeuktes, which was set up in the Athenian Agora in 280 B.C.


Image Details


People Information

Creator
  1. Unknown, attributed to: :
Subject
  1. Demosthenes: Ancient Greek: General, Orator
People Related
  1. Polyeuctus: Greek: Artist, sculptor

Medium
  1. Gem: cornelian
  2. Gold
  3. Ring: gold

Picture Type
  1. Gem
  2. Jewelry
  3. Object

Geographic Hierarchy

World Europe Greece

  1. 39 00 00 N , 022 00 00 E

Category Hierarchy

History & Politics Artefacts

History & Politics Politics Politicians


Digital Image Size

Pixel Dimensions (W x H) : 3794x4960
File Size : 55,132kb


Aliases

  1. 90.AN.13
  1. 103WHD
  1. 1200001713
  1. 3-037-102
  1. 3037102
  1. 90.AN.13

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